From: Tom Cox [tom340724@earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 7:16 AM
To: webmaster@childprotectionreform.org
Subject: Investigations (so called) by CSA workers

Gentlemen,

>From late 1985 until 1994 I investigated alleged child abuse for
attorneys in Columbus, OH.  Allow me to relate one attempt at alleged
investigation that I witnessed.

I was talking with a friend, who was an army reserve civilian employee.
During the conversation, he received another call from a female in his
unit.  During their conversation while I was on hold, a CS worker came
to her door demanding entry.  The woman returned to the phone hoping to
get good advice from her reserve unit's station keeper.  He placed her
on hold to ask me what she should do.  I told him to refuse entry to the
visitor until she had talked with me.

During our conversation, at my suggestion, she told the social worker,
through a locked door, that she should return in half an hour.  When I
arrived, twenty-five minutes later, the case worker was sitting in the
living room.  I asked why she was trespassing when the householder had
clearly told her to return at a time yet five minutes away.  She said
that, being with CS, she had a legal right to enter any house she
desired.  She backed down when I told her that she would be forcibly
removed if she did not comply.  With that heard, her whole demeanor
changed.  After discussion, she agreed to allow me to be present during
her questioning of the sons of the householder.

A word of background.  The mother was a divorced woman, whose ex was not
paying child support.  She still believed that the boys needed their
father's influence so she allowed visitation.  During the last visit, he
had grilled the boys about any boyfriends that their mother might have.
They told him of Tommy.   During the inquisition he asked the boys what
they remembered most about Tommy.  They replied that he "popped" them
with a belt.

The case worker called in the older son.  "Do you know Tommy?"

"Yes."

"What do you know about Tommy?"

"He pops us with his belt."

With that statement, the cw dismissed the child and called for his
younger brother.  Exactly the same conversation ensued.  She then
dismissed the younger and turned to me, asking, "Can you tell me why I
should not remove the children from the home?"  I said it would be
better if she conducted an investigation first, as she had promised.
She was flabbergasted.  She stated that she had just completed it.

Of course, this was no investigation.  I asked if she would mind if I
conducted an investigation in her presence.  With her agreement, I
called in the older boy and had a few minutes of conversation to break
the ice.  After all, the lad had never seen me before, nor had he talked
with me by any means.  Finally i said, Tommy pops you with a belt.
While the boy was saying he did, I took my belt off and handed it to him
and told him to pop me with the belt.  He grinned and folded the belt in
half. Gripping the middle of the belt in one hand ant the buckle and the
tip in the other, he brought his thumbs together while opening a space
between the two sections of belt.
With gusto, he place the belt an inch or two from my nose and jerked his
hands apart forcefully.  The leather slapped together emitting a loud
"Pop".  The look on the face of the cw was priceless.  She could not
apologize enough. She sought to take her leave quickly, but she was not
through yet.  She had to listen to the a lesson on the constitution
which she was violating every day.

Thought you might be able to use an eye witness account of a typical
investigation and its refutation before it got to court.

Sincerely,
Tom Cox